Mary’s Bar in Magherafelt is celebrating after being crowned the Best Gastro Pub in Co Derry/Londonderry at the Ulster regional finals of the prestigious Irish Restaurant Awards.

Now, the bar will join other county winners to compete for All-Ireland titles, with the winners to be announced at the main awards presentation in the Burlington Hotel in Dublin on Wednesday 10 June.

Owned by Henry and Teresa McGlone, Mary’s Bar puts its success down to serving seasonal Irish dishes alongside fine wines, classy cocktails, local pints and great entertainment.

General manager Thomas Doherty said: “We have a great team at Mary’s and everyone works hard to ensure that our customers have a good time when they visit us.  To be recognised as the Best Gastro Pub in Derry/Londonderry is fantastic and an incredible achievement for all the staff.

“There was a lot of strong competition in this category, but we think it was the combination of fresh local produce, skill in the kitchen, menu selection for all budgets, customer care and ambience that secured us the top spot.”

The Ulster finals of the awards – which are sponsored by Chilean winery Santa Rita and LIFE magazine – were held at the Merchant Hotel in Belfast.

Over 300 restaurant owners and staff celebrated their hard work and achievements as many well-known restaurateurs in Ulster turned out to see if they had won one of the coveted awards.

Adrian Cummins, chief executive of the Restaurants Association of Ireland, said: “The Irish Restaurant Awards are now in their fifth year and continue to go from strength to strength.

“Each year, the awards cast a spotlight on the brightest and best players on the Irish restaurant scene, and they are undoubtedly the awards everyone wants to win.

“This year the nominations went online for the first time and we got a spectacular response from the public. Nominations doubled and we received 10,000 votes for Ireland’s favourite restaurants, chefs, gastro pubs, hotel restaurants and customer service experience.

“We celebrate the award-winning cuisines and the great restaurateurs and chefs who are constantly bringing international recognition and accolades to the Irish restaurant scene.

“Restaurateurs are entrepreneurs, and that is reflected in the fact that the restaurant sector is the biggest employer within the hospitality industry. We provide employment to 64,000 people and the industry has annual sales in excess of €2 billion”.

Mary’s Bar is in Market Street, Magherafelt and there is plenty of parking in the town. For more information on all Mary’s activities or to book Tel: 028 79302616 or visit www.marys-bar.com.

CAPTION:

Chef, Victoria Watson – Mary’s Bar, Magherafelt accepts ‘Best Gastro Pub’ in Co Derry/Londonderry Award from Adrian Cummins, CEO of the Restaurants Association of Ireland and Brian Fallon, President of the Restaurants Association of Ireland at the Ulster regional finals of the prestigious Irish Restaurant Awards.